Chapter Three
Rain
“We’ve been trying to get in touch with you, Rain. To update you on the status of your claim.”
The person on the other end of the phone call was just doing their job, but I really didn’t want to explain to one more person that my house had burned to the ground.
“Is there an update that is more updated than the email I received three minutes ago?” I asked, a twinge of snark in my tone, on purpose, of course.
“No, there isn’t. We call to make sure you’re clear about what was in the email.”
Oh, boy. This was beyond ridiculous. “I understand that the house is a total loss, especially since I watched it burn in front of me, and I was present when the lightning strike hit it. I paid the policy in full so I also understand that the insurance will cover the cost to rebuild the house.”
The agent on the other end cleared their throat. “Yes. That’s it. And we also cover a place to stay while your home is being rebuilt, so please upload your receipts once a week to the claims website so we can reimburse you.”
Thank goodness I was a person who had the means to pay for a hotel and get repaid. Some people didn’t. I was lucky I’d put my backpack in the car only minutes before the disaster. “I understand. Is there anything else?”
“No. That is all. Thank you for being insured with us.”
I sighed, shoving the phone into my back pocket. I’d spent one night in a chain hotel but, after that one night, they were booked solid. There was only one chain hotel in the town, some rental homes, a few inns, and a motel that looked on the outside how I felt on the inside.
That was my issue now, finding a place to stay. I also needed to order some personal items and have them delivered, but that was a little difficult when I didn’t have a house to deliver them to.
I leaned against my car and scrubbed my hands down my face.
I could go to the next city, but then I would be two hours away from my former home.
If there were decisions to be made or the contractor needed me for something, I would have to travel two hours each way to get to him.
That wouldn’t be any fun for either of us.
I wanted to be as close to my property as possible.
Even though the house had burned, I felt a tie to the land I’d never felt before.
I glanced across the street at the one-story motel.
It hadn’t been pressure washed in ages, and the flowers in the beds were artificial and their color dulled by the blaring sun.
The concrete was painted cream with some rust-colored accents.
Its sign was missing one of the Ms, but it was called the Mates Motel.
Was it a play on the infamous Bates Hotel?
I shuddered at the thought, but I had no room to be choosy.
I got in the car and drove across the street and parked in front of the office. I knew that because of the buzzing, glitched-out neon sign that read office propped inside the window. Inside, I could see the display of maps and touristy brochures every hotel and motel had. No time like the present.
Backpack in hand, I walked into the office, not surprised at all by the jingle above the door.
“What can I do you for?” The man at the desk barely looked up from his crossword puzzle.
His glasses down on the end of his nose, and he filled in the newspaper puzzle with one of those rectangular contractor pencils.
When I was younger, I used one for my math homework.
It was my dad’s and he sharpened it for me with his pocketknife.
In my mind, I could hear him shaving the sides of it even to this day.
“I need a room for a few weeks if you have one. Maybe months. Who knows.”
Instead of consulting a computer or a phone, the man pulled out a huge leather ledger and regarded it and then me, then the book again. “I can set you up for a few months in room six.”
“Thank you. The name is Rain. Rain Everest.”
“Nice to meet you, Rain Everest. I’m Bennett. Bennett Duke. My father owned this motel and passed it down to me.”
He turned the ledger around and made me sign my name and the time I checked in. Old school.
“That’s nice.”
The old man lifted his nose in the air and sniffed. I turned around, wondering what he smelled but when I turned back, he was grabbing a key from the rack and handing me a stack of towels. White. Fluffy, to my surprise. Smelled like bleach. Bleach meant clean.
“Haven’t seen you around here before.”
“I live in the country. Or I did. My house got struck by lightning. Burned down. I’m staying here until I can get something else built.”
“Bad luck.” He cocked his head to the side. “Or good luck.”
I scoffed. “How would it be good luck?”
He winked at me. Not creepy, just an older man thing. “Sometimes bad things happen for a reason. Can lead to something better.”
“Maybe so. I’m going to go now. And three across is lenient.”
Bennett eyed the puzzle and let out a cackle. “Damn it! You are right. Come back in if you get bored. I can never solve 100 percent of these dadgum things.”
I parked my car in front of room six and went in, whispering a prayer that the inside was better than the outside.
I was blown away. The place was sparsely furnished, the TV and furnishings older than me, but everything was clean, and it smelled nice.
Not a hint of cigarette smoke or anything else questionable.
I walked past the queen bed and checked out the bathroom.
Pale blue and white tiles floor to ceiling.
All of it clean. The mirror and shower curtain spotless.
I ran my hand under the water from the shower and laughed out loud at the decent pressure and temperature.
This place was a diamond in the rough—the rough being its own exterior.
I wondered why they called it the Mates Motel, though. Maybe I would visit Bennett and ask why his father named it that.
After a long, hot shower, I put on some clothes I’d purchased at the local supercenter and lay on the bed, tight muscles easing.
At least I had a good place to stay while I waited for my house. There was some silver lining that day. All I had to do was keep searching for it day by day.